Whitney Crocodiles Pre-School

Whitney Crocodiles Pre School The Village Hall, Whitney-on-Wye, Hereford, Herefordshire, HR3 6EG

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 18/07/2013 24/04/2009

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Staffs in-depth knowledge and understanding of safeguarding policies and the additional procedures they have implemented within the pre-school fully ensure children's safety and well-being at all times.  Children enjoy a wealth of exciting and innovative experiences, such as Forest School, to enhance their learning and sustain their interest. This ensures that they make excellent progress in their learning and development.  Children are fully involved in their own learning process. Wonderful learning journeys which are totally child-initiated further complement and enhance their excellent learning experiences.  Children with additional needs are welcomed and fully supported. Staff are clearly able to identify any areas where there are concerns and are driven and totally focused in their determination to ensure that all children receive the support and help that they need to enable them to achieve.

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This provision is outstanding

 Effective partnerships both with parents and other professionals involved with the children ensures that their individual needs are recognised and met appropriately.  The manager and committee members are extremely supportive. Staff are encouraged to take on additional responsibilities within the pre-school which raises morale and makes them feel valued.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the compulsory part of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed children in all areas of the premises and outdoors.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector looked at children's records, planning, assessment and other required documents.  The inspector held ongoing discussions with staff and children.  The inspector sought the views of parents and members of the committee.

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Information about the setting

Whitney Crocodiles Pre-school opened in 1974 and is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory part of the Chidcare Register. It operates from the village hall in Whitney-on-Wye, Herefordshire and is managed by a committee. The nursery serves the local and surrounding areas. There are two enclosed areas and a nearby wooded area available for outdoor play and Forest School.

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Information about the setting

The pre-school employs four members of child care staff. Of these, three hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 or above. The pre-school opens Tuesday to Friday, term time only. Sessions are from 9am until 3pm. Children attend for a variety of sessions. There are currently 19 children on roll. The pre-school provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. It supports children with special needs educational and/or disabilities.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 re-consider the procedures for applying sun-cream in hot weather to further enhance children's understanding of how to keep healthy and safe.

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who attend

Children thoroughly enjoy the time they spend in this friendly and wholly supportive environment. They eagerly participate in the exciting and innovative experiences that staff provide for them. This develops their curiosity and helps to make them enthusiastic learners. Planning is pertinent to every individual child's needs and staff are skilled at adjusting activities to ensure that every child receives a balanced and suitable learning experience. Staff recognise children's individual learning needs and patterns and provide an extensive range of activities to support these. They have implemented the progress check at age two to enable them to assess children's development and act on any areas if there are concerns. This ensures that all children make excellent progress in line with their starting points and individual capabilities.

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who attend

Planning totally evolves from children's ideas and interests and parents are fully involved in their child's learning. They are invited to contribute to the planning by recording any ideas they may have for activities relating to the next topic on a mind-map. This encourages them to share information about their children's learning interests at home. Wonderful learning journeys, which are totally 'owned' by the children fully involves them in their own learning process and clearly shows the progress that they have made. Children take their own photographs using the pre-school camera. Older children ask for the camera to take photographs when they are taking part in activities or ask staff to take photographs for them. For example, when they are pretending to be monsters hiding in a den. Staff print the photographs daily and children choose which ones they want to put into their learning journeys. Staff sit with the children individually and ask them to

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who attend

describe what they were doing. They write the words that the children have said and older children are encouraged and supported to copy them or write additional words themselves. The learning journeys regularly go home with children and parents are encouraged to add to them. All next steps are discussed with parents and staff share ideas of how these can be reached and supported both within the pre-school and at home. This ensures that continual progress is achieved.

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who attend

Children throughout the pre-school make excellent progress in all areas of learning and development. Staff know every child exceptionally well and can clearly show how they are helping and supporting them to achieve. Children thoroughly enjoy being outside and are learning about sustainability. They actively sort the rubbish leftover from their lunchboxes into re-cycling and rubbish piles and put any food waste into a box to feed the worms and the birds. They rush excitedly to feed the worms in the wormery and eloquently explain that the worms make the soil wet and that the water is compost which comes out of the tap at the bottom and is used to make the plants grow big and strong. They confidently use mathematical language as they talk about the worms being fat and big. Staff skilfully extend their language and thinking as they ask children if they think the worms are long or short and to describe what they may feel like. Equality of opportunity is a real strength

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who attend

and all children are welcome in the pre-school. Children with special educational needs are exceptionally well supported. Staff are skilful in identifying when additional support may be needed and are driven and totally focused in their determination to ensure that all children receive the support and help that they need to enable them to achieve their full potential.

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who attend

The pre-school is a hive of activity as children enthusiastically make choices within their play. Fun and laughter are an integral part of the day and sounds of extremely happy, confident and motivated children reverberate in every area. They especially enjoy taking part in Forest School activities where they are given the time and space to initiate their own play. Staff provide additional resources, such as ropes and then confidently observe children as they negotiate and develop their reasoning and interactive communication skills. For example, they shout to their friends as they throw and tie ropes around tree branches, asking them to help them as they pull themselves up the hills and slopes using the ropes. Staff skilfully allow the children time to extend their own play before asking them to think about other ways to climb up and down the hill. Children embrace the challenge as they crawl on their hands and knees, swing from branches using their arms

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who attend

and legs and roll down the slopes. Staff are skilled at extending activities to continually foster children's awe and wonderment. For example, when using chalkboards they introduce water and paintbrushes and watch as children discover that if they chalk on the boards and then write with water it washes the marks away. Staff immediately extend children's thinking by asking what they think will happen if they put the boards in the sunshine or the shade to dry. Children patiently watch and wait to see which boards dry quickest.

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who attend

Children are fully prepared in their learning for when they move to school. Older children are able to write and form recognisable letters and shapes. They can name the letter and phonic sound that their name begins with and find other objects that begin with the same sound. They regularly count in everyday situations and can clap the correct number of times to correspond with their counting, For example, when playing 'hide and hunt the teddy' in the woods, children clap and count to 20 in succession. Their imaginations are well developed and they are able to retell and act out familiar stories. For example, when they are at Forest School some children pretend to be bears hiding in the caves and other children squelch through mud and splash through rivers to find them.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

A well established and extremely effective key person system operates within the pre- school. This helps children to form secure emotional attachments and provides parents with a familiar person to share information with. Excellent settling-in processes further supports children and parents and helps them to settle well and feel safe and secure in the environment. Children who are starting at the pre-school are invited to attend the toddler group which runs on the same premises. This enables them to become familiar with staff and the surroundings. Staff have built excellent relationships with the schools that children will be moving to. Teachers visit the children in the pre-school setting and children join in school trips and visits with the reception class. Staff ask schools if there is any specific information they would like to receive, and work with them to ensure children are well prepared in readiness for the move. Children are encouraged to share their school

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

experiences with all of the children during circle time to further help and support all children with transitions.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children's health is very well promoted and there are clear and consistently applied systems in place to protect them from infection. Children learn about the effect of the hot weather on their bodies. Staff provide them with materials to make dens for shade and teach them to put their feet in the water in the paddling pool to help them to cool down. All children know that they have to wear a hat before going outside. Staff have incorporated the hot weather into the planning. Children learn why they must regularly drink water and make fans to keep them cool. There is scope to improve further the pre- school policy with regard to administering sun cream to extend and enhance children's learning of how to remain safe in the sun. Children thoroughly enjoy spending time outdoors and the resources and activities provided to enhance their physical development and well-being are exceptional. They regularly access the local woods which staff have

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

adapted into a Forest School area. This provides them with an exciting and invigorating way of learning to keep healthy. They take part in sports days and are eager to show staff who were not present at the time how they can balance hippos on spoons as they run around an obstacle course.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Ongoing in-depth risk assessments ensure that any potential hazards are identified and minimised. Children learn about their own safety as staff incorporate gentle reminders of how to use resources safely as they play. They know the rules for Forest School and staff re-enforce these before children use the area. They know that they carry sticks pointing down so that they don't poke anyone in the eye and always make sure that they can see a member of staff. Children's behaviour is exemplary. They are supported by staff to take responsibility for their own behaviour and consider the effect that their behaviour has on others. Children form very positive relationships with both adults and their peers. They work happily alongside each other as they learn to share and take turns. They are extremely polite and use please and thank you as part of their normal daily routine.

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provision

Children are exceptionally well safeguarded. All staff are very aware of their roles and responsibilities in protecting the children in their care. They fully understand the signs and symptoms to be aware of and know when and from whom to seek advice. They have implemented additional safeguarding procedures to alert other staff members if an incident relating to child protection occurs during the session. This ensures that children's confidentiality and privacy are fully respected. Recruitment procedures are robust. All staff working with the children are of a high calibre and are dedicated and enthusiastic. Appraisals and supervision meetings are used to identify any areas for improvement and all staff regularly update their knowledge through training. The manager is very 'hands on' and supportive of all staff. She encourages them to reach their full potential and take on additional responsibilities within the pre-school to develop their self-esteem. Her caring

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provision

and approachable manner ensures that staff feel able to talk openly about any issues they have or new ideas they would like to implement. As a result, they feel valued and appreciated.

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provision

Partnership with parents is exceptional. Parents are wholly valued and their views are sought and respected. Comments for improvement are welcomed and acted upon. Parents are extremely happy with the pre-school and comments received are very positive. They say that 'staff are very supportive of children who have identified special educational needs and that they can't thank them enough for pursuing concerns until they receive a favourable outcome'. They say that 'the pre-school is fantastic, they can't praise it enough and that there is wonderful communication from staff about what children have been doing and their ongoing development'. Excellent partnerships with other professionals involved with the children, such as speech and language therapists helps them to reach their development goals.

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provision

The manager is clearly able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the pre-school. Staff, parents and children are fully involved in the self-evaluation process and ideas for improvement are carefully considered and acted upon. An extremely dedicated and pro- active committee are wholly supportive in implementing the changes necessary to sustain improvement. Above all, children thrive in this stimulating and learning enriched environment. They thoroughly enjoy the time they spend here and the skills they learn help them to prepare them for school readiness and lay firm foundations for the future.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 223613 Local authority Herefordshire Inspection number 915024

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Type of provision

Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 26 Number of children on roll 19 Name of provider Whitney Crocodiles Pre School Committee Date of previous inspection 24/04/2009 Telephone number 0781 4094658

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Type of provision

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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